English saxophonist John Butcher may be among the
world's most influential musicians, operating at the
cutting-edge of improvisatory practice since the '80s.
While his explorations of multiphonics, continuous
breathing and electronics have extended the range of
sonic and expressive possibilities for free-improvising
saxophonists, he's also served as a model for a host of
other instrumentalists.Whenever an acoustic musician
starts to sound like a bank of oscillators, a tropical
forest, a brook or an insect factory, Butcher's influence
is likely nearby.

Scrutables, recorded in 2000, is a work of classic
British free improvisation, if "classic" can be applied to
the kind of sonic mayhem practiced regularly by
Butcher, the late guitarist Derek Bailey and
percussionist Gino Robair, whose instrument here is
described as "energized surfaces". The interactive
mechanics of every genuine improvisation are unique,
an incalculable intersection of habit, synapse,
randomness, extrasensory perception and listening
that ranges from microscopically detailed to non-
existent. At any moment it might sound as if each
musician is creating his own continuum or as if each is
responding to the infinite nuances of the others. Either
way, the lines and sounds continuously interact in a
scattershot effect that has a line moving from guitar to
drum to saxophone and back again.

One may hear
more here by surrendering the idea of instrumental
identity, accepting the music as one might the words
assigned to the segments - as previously non-existent
("Almosthenics"), rare ("frangible"), or a happy
collision ("Cosmetic Halo" or "Teasing Needles").